Canada’s electricity grid is stuck in a pre-Internet age, an era when carbon pollution wasn’t on anyone’s radar and energy was cheap. Necessity and consumer demand has paved the way for cleaner energy, but getting renewables to operate on these antiquated grids is like sending texts using Canada Post.

Smart grids have been helping to bring electricity delivery into the 21st century. But as utilities and technology providers race to develop solutions to optimize centralized, century-old distribution systems not designed to accommodate two-way power flows and highly variable distributed energy resources (i.e. small-scale power sources), smart grid software engineering company Opus One Solutions believes it may have the answer.

Governments and utilities across North America have placed their bets on the Richmond Hill, Ont.-based startup, spurring growth that can be attributed to a strong leader, a team with a vision and a solution that is right. Sustainable Development Technology Canada says commercialization of Opus One’s “innovative” patented GridOS technology will “increase efficiency in the sector” and “provide economic and environmental benefits for all Canadians.”

The price tag of overhauling Canada’s entire electricity system would be in the billions. Software intelligence costs less than bulky power lines, and isn’t vulnerable to crippling weather. With a few clicks, Opus One’s GridOS operating system finds inefficiencies in these bulky, fragmented power system and offers the most efficient substitute to manage, distribute, and consume energy.

Joshua Wong, chief executive of Opus One Solutions, contends the company’s software is a win-win for customers and utilities, noting the end product is more sustainable, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective.

Wong, an engineer, founded Toronto Hydro’s smart grid department, coinciding with Ontario’s Green Energy Act, which, other than seeking to galvanize renewable energy production, was heralded by the province for inspiring green jobs.

After five years at the utility, Wong was itching to find renewed purpose in his trade by disrupting the clean tech space. “I believed the way I could offer the most value to the industry was outside of the utility, looking in.”

Since then, Wong has led Opus One from a one-man consulting business in 2012 to landing a $13-million project with the Government of Canada a year after incorporating.

Now, Opus One will lead a $16.4-million global transactive energy project to improve the integration of distributed energy resources into existing grids at three utilities in Canada and the United States. It is also distributing Tesla’s highly touted Powerwall home battery system in a joint venture with energy storage developer NRStor Inc., headed by Annette Verschuren, formerly president of Home Depot Canada and Asia.

The bulk of the startup’s funding has come from government grants. But earlier this month, investment firm Energy Impact Partners (EIP) announced it is backing the Canadian startup. “We were impressed by the company’s progress and reach throughout Canada in a relatively short time,” said Sameer Reddy, vice-president and deal lead at EIP.

“We were immediately drawn to Opus One because of the outstanding leadership of Joshua Wong. He has a unique understanding of the key challenges faced by utilities today, as well as a visionary sense of the solutions required to solve such challenges,” Reddy added.

During the Pan Am Games last year, Opus One led a consortium of partners to deploy a full-scale, autonomous microgrid built for the YMCA at the Athletes’ Village. The community generated and consumed its own energy supply, managed by Opus One’s GridOS for maximum efficiency.

Even if a lightning storm tore down local power lines, the YMCA would have had power for days, even weeks, thanks to the battery system provided by energy storage startup eCAMION, solar power, and load management as a last line of defense.

Opus One also set up a parallel microgrid in its 3,300-square-feet living lab in Richmond Hill for advanced distributed energy and microgrid controls connected to PowerStream’s distribution system. In essence, a microgrid within a microgrid (or nested microgrid) for testing purposes.

Solar panels charge two Tesla Powerwall batteries, which in turn charge several electric cars, including Wong’s Chevy Volt, and a Dyson vacuum cleaner. A real-time digital simulator of a grid — worth more than a Tesla Model S, but no bigger than a mini-fridge — allow the team to create real-world grid scenarios.

SolarEdge inverters, KSI Smart Panel, eCAMION battery systems and Tesla — all evidence of its partnerships — are scattered throughout the living lab. “We can’t do it alone. We want to be the brains and nervous system of the grid, but we need our partners for the eyes, ears, and limbs,” Wong said.

Next month, Opus One is setting up a software development shop in downtown Toronto. Industry analysts, including Gartner, predict that in less than a decade the largest electric power companies will be Uber-like titans that will manage energy suppliers and consumers in an open market, without any assets – essentially the business model of transactive energy. Transactive energy refers to a software-driven distribution grid that enables market-participation, in conjunction with electric infrastructure reliability, to manage the generation and consumption of energy.

We can’t do it alone. We want to be the brains and nervous system of the grid, but we need our partners for the eyes, ears, and limbs

New York State has announced major regulatory reform for utilities (prompted by factors such as Hurricane Sandy’s devastating toll on power lines), which would operate on a transactive energy grid. And Opus One has won one of the first and largest transactive energy projects in the state.

Wong credits his 20-strong team for Opus One’s growth since 2012, leading them to win bid after bid. “Opus One is a team with vision. A team led by industry veterans, myself aside.” The startup has plans to double or triple the number of employees within nine months.

“It’s not simply about fixing today’s problems, but also asking where distributed energy leads us to, which is the future. We’re at the forefront of bringing that change to North America, and soon, beyond North America,” Cohanim said.